The Power of a family

I’ve lived a life like most other kids; that is until middle school. In the seventh grade my dad went overseas for a year. That meant he left my mom, who was pregnant with my older sister, in 8th grade, me, and my younger sister, Cassie, who was one year old.

I remember the day my dad left, as we were sitting in the airport at 4:00 in the morning waiting for his flight; it was one of the hardest days of my life. While waiting I became very emotional; sad he was leaving, worried for him because I was not exactly sure what we would be doing, and also angry because I did not understand why we was leaving.

Until my youngest sister, Delani, was born it became harder and harder for my mom to get around. She became more dependent on my older sister, Ashley, and I. When we were younger, before my dad left, we never got along. I now realized how important it was that we help my mom, and did everything I could to stay out of trouble.

After my mom had Delani she still depended on me. Ashley was focusing on school, and preparing to go into the IB program at East, so things started to fall on my shoulders. My grandparents tried to help also, but they do not live near us. I began to realize how important family is, and how much they are there for me.

When my mom went back to work after her maternity leave was over she worked from 2:00 p.m. until midnight. From 2:00 until I got home from school my grandma came to our house and watched my younger siblings. After that within the rest of the night I managed to get all my homework done, watch Cassie and Delani, and get them to bed. It was a challenge. Taking care of my younger siblings made me understand how important they are to me.

During the six months we tried to keep in contact with my dad. It was hard, because we were unable to call each other. The only way we communicated was through a webcam, whenever we could. Every time I saw him it became hard. I could see the conditions that he was living in were very different from ours. He did not have the things that I took for granted at home. From the six months my father was gone I learned a lot. The most important thing was that I found that I believe in the power of a family. If it weren’t for all of my family things would not have worked out.

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This week’s essay

Growing up in the former Yugoslavia, lawyer Djenita Pasic enjoyed the peace of her religiously diverse country. But after the fall of communism and the outbreak of the Bosnian War, Pasic was forced to reevaluate her ideas about religion and tolerance. Click here to read her essay.